A pair of spacecraft happened to be passing by Venus on their way somewhere else, but they managed to grab some bonus data about the planet.
When spacecraft launch to visit distant planets in the solar system, they rarely travel directly from Earth to their target. Because of the orbits of the planets and limitations on fuel, spacecraft often make use of other planets they pass by to get a gravity assist to help them on their way. And that means that spacecraft frequently perform flybys of planets that are not their main focus of study.
Both spacecraft happened to fly past Venus within a few days of each other in August 2021, allowing scientists to get a view of the planet from two different positions using eight different sensors. They were particularly interested in the planet’s magnetic field, as unlike Earth, it does not generate an intrinsic magnetic field, but the interaction of the solar wind and its atmosphere does produce what is called an induced magnetosphere.
The researchers found that the magnetosphere is protecting the planet’s atmosphere from being eroded away by solar winds, which can help us understand more about conditions of habitability.
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